Sunday morning - farewell Auckland, looking to the Northlands
Hello! I have been promising a proper post and not doing it, but now it's Sunday morning, I have no work deadlines until Tuesday night, and I have half an hour before the SuperShuttle picks me up to head for the airport where I'll pick up a car and then drive north!
I've been in Auckland for six days, which seems a bit odd when most people fly through on their way to other places, but I wanted a bit of time to breathe after the chaos of family in Australia, and to be able to look around as well as get on with work. I wanted to get a bit of a feel for the place, rather than just glancing at it. So I did look around, and this is what I saw... *g*
Sunday
I walked down to the waterfront, where there was a boat show going on, then to have a look in the Maritime Museum - and I couldn't resist going for a "heritage sail" around the bay. I even got to help hoist the sails when we set off! *g* All very beautiful...
Plus I've found the panorama function on my phone... *vbg*
Monday
Today was Auckland Art Gallery day! I took a detour through Albert Park, and loved this amazing tree, and also the spring blossom against the city.
I paused for a snack on a bench, just because it was so pretty there, and just as I was finishing I found myself surrounded by a group of young women. Huh, I thought - and then they asked if they could ask me some questions, and video me for a project. I took the option of having my feet videod, although they promised it wouldn't be put on social media. Still... *g* And then they asked their questions, and it was all about whether I'd ever been cat-called, and how it felt, and whether I'd ever changed my behaviour around men, and so on, and I just thought oh my god, because I didn't take part in a course where there was a survey, but these were the exact things that we were talking about when I was at uni - and that's... wow, actually I graduated with my BA thirty years ago this year. Hell's teeth! But anyway - how has nothing changed in thirty years? How are we still having to ask the same questions, and put up with the same shit? And I hate that I told them about the women's minibus we used to have at uni, which would take women home from the student's union if it was dark/late, and they were really interested in it as an idea...
Then I went to the art gallery and took photos of the stairs and the corridors... *g*
Okay, I also looked at the exhibitions, but they were mostly contemporary art that didn't quite say anything to me. Interesting, but... speechless. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. But I did like the stairs and corridors! *g*
Tuesday
Today was just chores and work, although I did nip out to the supermarket in the evening, and paused for photos - the Sky Tower, and (I think) Town Hall.
Wednesday
Wednesday was museum day! I walked through Auckland Domain...
...to the Museum, where there were some stairs and corridors....
Not really! There were also other cool museum-type things, including a Maori Cultural Performance that was good fun!)
It looks just like a little play here, but they were all so talented. They told and sang the history of how the Maori came to New Zealand, then they performed some traditional songs and games. The second pic is the stick game, where they have to throw them quickly between each other and not drop them, and the third is a quadruple poy, which is very clever indeed. The fourth probably needs no explanation - the haka! *g* here's an ad for it on YouTube if you want to see them in action *g*
...and then through the Wintergardens and back home.
Thursday
Another quieter day - down to the waterfront, and around Queen's Wharf, and then down to the Britomart, which is where the swanky shops are. *g*
Some nice history boards. Not sure why Captain Cook is looking so glum and surrounded by neon - I must find out... (Aaah, it's called The Lighthouse, for anyone interested... and it contains the entire cosmos... *g*)
Friday
On Friday I took the ferry across the bay to Devonport - and I wished I'd done it sooner! I felt so much more peaceful away from the city, and the sun was shining and the breeze was perfect, and... just *sigh* Also, I found a tree with hair...
...except now I have just found out what this "hair" is - it's aerial tree roots! Apparently Aerial roots are often produced from the trunk and branches of pōhutukawa, says Te Ara (the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand). How cool is that! And rather perfectly, the pōhutukawa flower is the one in my icon... *g*
I wandered down the waterfront again, just enjoying the peace and the sunshine, and the views.
And there was such a smell of honey when I passed this flower bed!
I wandered up and down the jetty, then over rockier edges past an old lido, and then, what did I come across? Tunnels!
It turned out that the tunnel led into the old naval fort that was up on north head, and I eventually came out to such views... and also one of the huge "disappearing guns" (because when they fired they jumped backwards into the hill under cover)
So I had a lovely time taking photos of all the nooks and crannies, but I can't show you cos it takes forever to format them down to size for lj...
And at the very top, as we've already seen...
I already posted Saturday, which was my last day in Auckland. This morning I got myself packed up and set off back to the airport - to pick up a hire car, and start heading north.
I'd assumed the journey up would be along a coast road, but actually it was all inland - and very rolling, Shire-like land it was too. I did sneak out to the coast to have my lunch, but it was quite grey by then, and the sea was rather a long way away anyway! Still pretty.
I've got as far as Paihia tonight, where there's no one else sharing my 4-bed dorm (hurrah!) There is, unfortunately, a bloke who snores rather loudly in the room next door, but oh well - I have a room to myself! And I went for a week walk down on the beach too, even though it was basically dark by then.
And that's where we're up to, and I will again try better to post as I go along. I have my wifi working, and I have my own headspace again - how hard can it be?!
I've been in Auckland for six days, which seems a bit odd when most people fly through on their way to other places, but I wanted a bit of time to breathe after the chaos of family in Australia, and to be able to look around as well as get on with work. I wanted to get a bit of a feel for the place, rather than just glancing at it. So I did look around, and this is what I saw... *g*
Sunday
I walked down to the waterfront, where there was a boat show going on, then to have a look in the Maritime Museum - and I couldn't resist going for a "heritage sail" around the bay. I even got to help hoist the sails when we set off! *g* All very beautiful...
Plus I've found the panorama function on my phone... *vbg*
Monday
Today was Auckland Art Gallery day! I took a detour through Albert Park, and loved this amazing tree, and also the spring blossom against the city.
I paused for a snack on a bench, just because it was so pretty there, and just as I was finishing I found myself surrounded by a group of young women. Huh, I thought - and then they asked if they could ask me some questions, and video me for a project. I took the option of having my feet videod, although they promised it wouldn't be put on social media. Still... *g* And then they asked their questions, and it was all about whether I'd ever been cat-called, and how it felt, and whether I'd ever changed my behaviour around men, and so on, and I just thought oh my god, because I didn't take part in a course where there was a survey, but these were the exact things that we were talking about when I was at uni - and that's... wow, actually I graduated with my BA thirty years ago this year. Hell's teeth! But anyway - how has nothing changed in thirty years? How are we still having to ask the same questions, and put up with the same shit? And I hate that I told them about the women's minibus we used to have at uni, which would take women home from the student's union if it was dark/late, and they were really interested in it as an idea...
Then I went to the art gallery and took photos of the stairs and the corridors... *g*
Okay, I also looked at the exhibitions, but they were mostly contemporary art that didn't quite say anything to me. Interesting, but... speechless. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. But I did like the stairs and corridors! *g*
Tuesday
Today was just chores and work, although I did nip out to the supermarket in the evening, and paused for photos - the Sky Tower, and (I think) Town Hall.
Wednesday
Wednesday was museum day! I walked through Auckland Domain...
...to the Museum, where there were some stairs and corridors....
Not really! There were also other cool museum-type things, including a Maori Cultural Performance that was good fun!)
It looks just like a little play here, but they were all so talented. They told and sang the history of how the Maori came to New Zealand, then they performed some traditional songs and games. The second pic is the stick game, where they have to throw them quickly between each other and not drop them, and the third is a quadruple poy, which is very clever indeed. The fourth probably needs no explanation - the haka! *g* here's an ad for it on YouTube if you want to see them in action *g*
...and then through the Wintergardens and back home.
Thursday
Another quieter day - down to the waterfront, and around Queen's Wharf, and then down to the Britomart, which is where the swanky shops are. *g*
Some nice history boards. Not sure why Captain Cook is looking so glum and surrounded by neon - I must find out... (Aaah, it's called The Lighthouse, for anyone interested... and it contains the entire cosmos... *g*)
Friday
On Friday I took the ferry across the bay to Devonport - and I wished I'd done it sooner! I felt so much more peaceful away from the city, and the sun was shining and the breeze was perfect, and... just *sigh* Also, I found a tree with hair...
...except now I have just found out what this "hair" is - it's aerial tree roots! Apparently Aerial roots are often produced from the trunk and branches of pōhutukawa, says Te Ara (the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand). How cool is that! And rather perfectly, the pōhutukawa flower is the one in my icon... *g*
I wandered down the waterfront again, just enjoying the peace and the sunshine, and the views.
And there was such a smell of honey when I passed this flower bed!
I wandered up and down the jetty, then over rockier edges past an old lido, and then, what did I come across? Tunnels!
It turned out that the tunnel led into the old naval fort that was up on north head, and I eventually came out to such views... and also one of the huge "disappearing guns" (because when they fired they jumped backwards into the hill under cover)
So I had a lovely time taking photos of all the nooks and crannies, but I can't show you cos it takes forever to format them down to size for lj...
And at the very top, as we've already seen...
I already posted Saturday, which was my last day in Auckland. This morning I got myself packed up and set off back to the airport - to pick up a hire car, and start heading north.
I'd assumed the journey up would be along a coast road, but actually it was all inland - and very rolling, Shire-like land it was too. I did sneak out to the coast to have my lunch, but it was quite grey by then, and the sea was rather a long way away anyway! Still pretty.
I've got as far as Paihia tonight, where there's no one else sharing my 4-bed dorm (hurrah!) There is, unfortunately, a bloke who snores rather loudly in the room next door, but oh well - I have a room to myself! And I went for a week walk down on the beach too, even though it was basically dark by then.
And that's where we're up to, and I will again try better to post as I go along. I have my wifi working, and I have my own headspace again - how hard can it be?!